Tom Cruise deposition gives peek behind the scenes of his divorce

A deposition of Tom Cruise related to his lawsuit against Bauer Publishing was leaked this week.

A deposition of Tom Cruise related to his lawsuit against Bauer Publishing was leaked this week. (Todd Williamson / Associated Press)

Christie D'ZurillaThis post has been updated, as detailed below.

Tom Cruise's divorce from Katie Holmes generated big headlines but little actual detail about the split. Now a newly leaked deposition from the action star's legal proceeding against Bauer Publishing is giving a small peek behind the scenes.

Cruise in October 2012 brought a $50-million defamation suit against the publisher of Life & Style and InTouch magazines over cover stories that accused him of abandoning daughter Suri after the split with Holmes.

In the supposedly confidential depo, obtained by TMZ and others, Cruise admitted that although Holmes was a practicing Scientologist before and during the marriage, she ended her relationship with the church at the time of the divorce. He said Suri also no longer affiliates with the religion, though he balked over what it means for a 7-year-old to "practice" Scientology.

When asked by a Bauer attorney whether Scientology was part of Holmes' reason for leaving him, Cruise eventually answered: "Did she say that? That was one of the assertions, yes."

Elsewhere in the deposition, Cruise likened his location shoots to a tour of duty in Afghanistan, TMZ reported.

[Updated, 11:10 a.m. Nov. 9: The first mention of Afghanistan in the deposition was introduced by opposing counsel, who said: "Now your counsel has publicly equated your absence from Suri for extended periods of time as being analogous to someone fighting in Afghanistan. Are you aware of that?

After a brief exchange between attorneys, Cruise answered: "I didn't hear the Afghanistan, but..." before finishing the quote.]

"That's what it feels like," Cruise said. "And certainly on this last movie, it was brutal. It was brutal."

He said he might train "months, a year, and sometimes two years ... for a single film" and then compared himself to an Olympic sprinter who has to race 30 or 40 times a day instead of only once.

But he said that he spoke with Suri "nearly every day" when he was on location and was "a constant presence during Suri's life" during the time the magazines said he had ditched his daughter, Gossip Cop noted.

[Updated, 11:10 Nov. 9: This post has been updated to provide context for the comments about Afghanistan.]